Xerostomia after radiotherapy in the head & neck area: long-term observations

Abstract

To investigate the development of xerostomia more than 5 years after radiotherapy for head and neck cancer, a prospective longitudinal study was done. A xerostomia questionnaire was answered by 42 patients 41 and 90 months after radiotherapy: xerostomia at rest did not change significantly over time whereas the difficulties with speaking improved and the difficulties with eating worsened. Subjective xerostomia does not reach a steady state even more than 5 years after radiotherapy.